Mumbai, Dec 23 (NationPress) The Indian stock market began on a negative note on Tuesday, impacted by declines in IT stocks following a rebound of artificial intelligence (AI) stocks in the United States.

As of 9:30 AM, the Sensex fell by 159 points, or 0.19 percent, settling at 85,407, while the Nifty decreased by 32 points, or 0.13 percent, to reach 26,139.

The primary broad cap indices exhibited mixed results, with the Nifty Midcap 100 down by 0.18 percent, contrasted by a slight gain of 0.07 percent in the Nifty Smallcap 100.

Among the notable gainers in the Nifty pack were ONGC, Tata Steel, and NTPC, while Max Healthcare, TCS, Tech Mahindra, Asian Paints, and ICICI Bank were among the losers.

Sector-wise, indices on the NSE demonstrated a mixed performance, with the IT sector leading the losses, down by 1.21 percent. Conversely, the oil and gas as well as metal sectors showed significant gains, up by approximately 0.43 and 0.41 percent, respectively.

Analysts noted that immediate resistance levels for the Nifty are situated between 26,300 and 26,350, while substantial support lies within the 26,000 to 26,050 range.

Market analysts identified two key factors likely to influence market dynamics in the near term: robust macroeconomic indicators and the revival of AI trading. Strong macro data may encourage bulls to propel both the Nifty and Sensex to unprecedented heights. However, the proliferation of AI trading may pose a mild external challenge, potentially delaying any anticipated reversal of foreign institutional investor (FII) outflows, they added.

Defence stocks appear to be on the mend, suggesting further growth potential in this sector, while the IT sector has also demonstrated resilience, according to analysts.

In the Asia-Pacific region, markets reported moderate gains on Tuesday, buoyed by the uplift from AI trading which positively impacted major Wall Street indices the previous night.

In Asian markets, China's Shanghai index rose by 0.34 percent, while Shenzhen climbed 0.65 percent. Japan's Nikkei saw a marginal increase of 0.02 percent, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.33 percent. South Korea's Kospi was up 0.45 percent.

The US markets concluded mostly in the green overnight, with the Nasdaq advancing by 0.52 percent, the S&P 500 rising by 0.64 percent, and the Dow increasing by 0.47 percent.

Investors are closely monitoring escalating geopolitical tensions, particularly between the US and Venezuela, as well as delays in peace negotiations concerning Russia and Ukraine. The assassination of a Russian army general in a bombing on Monday has heightened concerns regarding the peace dialogue, consequently supporting crude oil prices.

On Monday, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) divested equities worth Rs 516 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) emerged as net buyers, acquiring equities worth Rs 3,898 crore.